Watched: The Ipcress File
Observations:
- This made me laugh a lot more than I expected to - equally in response to the deliberate humour as the things that feel odd nearly forty years on.
- There’s this extended pointed moment where the protagonist, Harry Palmer, is berated for selecting a premium can of mushrooms - a few minutes later, his sort-of love interest notices it and says “only the very best for Harry Palmer”. About a can of mushrooms. A can. They really knew how to eat well in the sixties.
- This film is also really hostile toward Americans - the little we see of them is as blundering fools who get killed 100% of the time. I think this stands out because the British film industry these days usually operates with the American market in mind, so the sort of casual xenophobia you used to see is no longer there. On the one hand, that’s probably a good thing; on the other, those moments were really funny, so. Not sure what to think.
- It was nice to watch something that felt gripping without being lazy - there are plenty of long dialogues and silent moments, and they’re just as valuable as the action-packed sequences. You’re kept guessing, but not in a way that feels contrived.
- This did get a bit A Clockwork Orange-y at points. It looks like there was some serious anxiety about psychotherapy in the sixties.
- This was very well put-together, overall - a brilliant score from John Barry (composer of the James Bond theme, amongst other fantastic soundtracks), wonderfully strange directing (a lot of low angles and close-ups - there’s one zoom out at the start that I couldn’t help but grin at), and a delightfully clever script. Michael Caine even managed to be a fascinating protagonist.